"Denise's God who calls us around her today is the Word in history, in our history. He calls us to open ourselves and thus emerge out of ourselves to meet our challenges, He frees us, leads us towards the discovery of the other, of others, step by step. Denise risked her life on the Word of God, in an adventure of waiting, of hope and openness to the future. Today, it is for us to continue this journey." (Extract from welcome to the Celebration of her Life, 2 December 2000)

 As many said about her, "she grew older while staying forever young". Certainly it is impossible to comprehend her strong personality without affirming that, in growing older, Denise stayed young in her behaviour, her thinking, her courage and love.

Her amazing capabilities awakened her to a multitude of possibilities for exercising the talents which she never allowed to go to waste: as an alumna of the Sacred Heart, in service and action for AMASC from its beginnings and, by leaps and bounds, through a progressive and courageous growth of awareness, in all the roles she took on: at UMOFC (WUCWO); in the ecumenical movement; in movements for Peace; in the many works of research and study which she undertook without cease, and much more…

Happy and proud to be a woman, she worked for the recognition of the capabilities of women, she loved risk and was never afraid to express her convictions. At the same time, her strong Faith drove her to search and understand, and she studied a great deal from this point of view, she even learnt information technology in order to be able to work better at her research. She saw herself as a "barefoot theologian" since she had never done any formal training in this subject: she studied Hebrew in order to better understand the Bible; the Liturgy, with its language too often "exclusive" towards women, drove her to new combats…! The last few years saw her preoccupied and busy with movements for peace at every level and worked in these with other women.

Her fine and perceptive intelligence gave her the gift of discerning very quickly what others only discovered later, and often one said to her "Denise, you're too quick, you're always in a hurry…" but…she was always right. To work with Denise was certainly not always a sinecure, but it was interesting. She moved right ahead, strongly, sometimes too strongly for others who could be amazed, who ran out of steam keeping up with her, but they were always obliged to submit to the evidence, her perceptions had been right all along. Her warmth, her friendship, her love, lived out within her large family and her friends from every walk of life, in all the organizations for which she worked, never faltered, she was always faithful.

Very active in the Church, in working for God's People, and most especially for Peace in her last years, her deepest thoughts are revealed in the prayer she gave at the Celebration in the cathedral at the end of the European meeting "Sacre-Cœur 2000". Extending a strong appeal for peace, she chose to end with the verses of Psalm 85: "Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss each other. Justice will walk before Him, and Peace will follow in His steps.

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